[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 126 (Wednesday, October 11, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10238-S10239]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO SENATOR DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN, CO-CHAIR OF THE NORTHEAST-
                        MIDWEST SENATE COALITION

  Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I rise today to commend the excellent 
service of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan as co-chair of the 
bipartisan Northeast-Midwest Senate Coalition. Senator Moynihan, as we 
all know and regret, will be retiring from the United States Senate at 
the end of this year. Many people have commented on his excellent 
service to the nation and to New York State. I want to pay tribute to 
his leadership on regional issues.
  Senator Moynihan was elected co-chair of the Northeast-Midwest Senate 
Coalition in April 1987. A bipartisan group of senators had formed the 
Coalition in 1978 with the goal of promoting regional economic and 
environmental interests. Senator Moynihan replaced Senator Alan Dixon, 
and served for several years with Senator John Heinz. Upon his election 
as co-chair, Senator Moynihan said, ``States in the frost belt have of 
late shared a burden of heavy losses in manufacturing jobs, military 
installations and contracts. Environmental concerns, from the rising 
waters of the Great Lakes to acid rain, occupy us all.''
  Over the past seven Congresses, Senator Moynihan persistently has 
advanced investments in our region's infrastructure, job-training and 
education programs, and basic industries. A stickler for accurate and 
timely data in order to judge our challenges and progress, he has 
documented the flow of federal funds from the Northeast and Midwest. 
Working with both Republicans and Democrats, he also has been a 
champion of the Great Lakes and the region's other great environmental 
assets.
  Now, Lake Champlain may not be a great Lake to the rest of you, but 
in our part of the world, it is revered in the same way. And it is the 
reason behind my earliest work with Senator Moynihan.
  In the summer of 1989, when I was a freshman Member of the minority 
party and Senator Moynihan was Chair of the Environment Subcommittee on 
Water Resources, he scheduled a field hearing to gather information on 
the water quality status of Lake Champlain. The hearing was split into 
two sessions, one on each side of the lake. We heard from Vermonters in 
Burlington, then enjoyed a boat ride across the lake to hear from 
upstate New Yorkers in Plattsburgh.
  As his first act after commencing the hearing in Burlington, Chairman 
Moynihan graciously handed the gavel to me so that I might preside over 
the Vermont portion of the hearing. That marked the first time I ever 
chaired a Senate hearing, and was made ever more memorable by the fact 
that Daniel Patrick Moynihan had bestowed the honor.
  We had an enjoyable, productive day, during the course of which 
Chairman Moynihan entertained and enlightened the participants with his 
intimate knowledge of the history of Lake Champlain, one our nation's 
most historic water bodies. Moreover, he demonstrated a keen knowledge 
of the science, hydrology and ecology of Lake Champlain. Senator 
Moynihan was bestowed a hero's welcome by his constituents upon 
disembarking on the Adirondack coast of Lake Champlain that day. He 
earned an everlasting respect among all who participated in the 
hearing.
  We returned to Washington to draft the Lake Champlain Special 
Designation Act, in concert with Senators Leahy and D'Amato, and 
promptly moved the bill through the scrutiny of the Water Resources 
Subcommittee, then the full Environment Committee and on to the Senate 
floor. Before the year had ended, that bill had become law. And it has 
proven to be a great success for the benefit of Lake Champlain, as well 
as a model for cooperation between different states, distinct federal 
regional jurisdictions and separate nations.
  Senator Moynihan, I commend you for your leadership on this important 
law. And I thank you for the latitude you gave me, in my first year in 
this United States Senate, to put my mark upon this legislation which 
continues to have a profound and positive influence on the ecology of 
Lake Champlain and the quality of life for the hundreds of thousands of 
people who live, work and recreate.
  Aside from this example, there are many others. Senator Moynihan took 
his assignment as co-chair of the Northeast-Midwest Senate Coalition 
during a time when our region was being less than affectionately 
referred to as the ``rust belt.'' Manufacturing plants were closing, 
unemployment was high, and many workers needed to be retrained for new 
challenges. Senator Moynihan led the Coalition in trying to identify 
and promote public policies that would take advantage of the region's 
common assets--its plentiful natural resources, distinguished 
university and research centers, significant financial centers, and a 
history of entrepreneurship.
  Although he would be the first to admit that challenges remain, this 
region's progress over the past decade and a half results, in part, 
from Senator Moynihan's consistent leadership.
  With Senator Moynihan's leadership, the Coalition has advanced 
numerous policy initiatives. It authored the nation's first pollution 
prevention law and promoted the National Invasive Species Act to block 
the proliferation

[[Page S10239]]

of biological pollution. The Coalition has protected the Low Income 
Home Energy Assistance Program, and achieved increased appropriations 
for several energy efficiency programs. It held the first hearings and 
developed legislation on brownfield redevelopments, as well as on 
leaking gasoline storage tanks. The Coalition advanced increased trade 
with Canada, our nation's largest trading partner, and it spearheaded a 
range of initiatives to enhance the region's and the nation's economic 
competitiveness.
  Mr. President, allow me to highlight a few other of Senator 
Moynihan's specific efforts to advance economic vitality and 
environmental quality in the Northeast-Midwest region. In recent days, 
for instance, Senator Moynihan has helped lead the Coalition's efforts 
to prepare for this winter's pending fuel crisis. Noting the rise in 
prices for heating oil and natural gas, he argued effectively for an 
emergency allocation of Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program 
funding. And he has been a consistent champion of Weatherization and 
energy conservation programs that help our region and nation to use 
energy more efficiently.
  In order to block the introduction of invasive species in ballast 
water, Senator Moynihan helped lead the charge for the National 
Invasive Species Act. He continues to work to expand that legislation 
beyond aquatic nuisance species to address the array of foreign plants 
and animals that cause biological pollution and economic loss 
throughout this country.
  Senator Moynihan and the Northeast-Midwest groups have highlighted 
the economic and environmental benefits of cleaning and redeveloping 
the contaminated industrial sites that plague our communities. He has 
sponsored Capitol Hill conferences on brownfield reuse, and distributed 
scores of Northeast-Midwest publications, including case studies of 
successful redevelopment projects. Senator Moynihan also has helped 
push several bills that would provide financial, regulatory, and 
technical assistance for brownfield reuse.
  To help provide financing and technical assistance to manufacturers, 
which remain critical to our region's economy, Senator Moynihan and the 
Northeast-Midwest Coalitions have advanced the Manufacturing Extension 
Partnership, trade adjustment assistance, and industrial technology 
programs. He has sponsored an array of Capitol Hill briefings on 
robotics, optoelectronics, machine tools, electronics, and other 
industrial sectors.
  In an effort to protect the Northeast and Midwest, Senator Moynihan 
has been willing to face the criticism that comes from highlighting 
egregious subsidies going to other regions. He has noted, for instance, 
that taxpayers in the Northeast and Midwest subsidize the electricity 
bills of consumers in other regions, only to have those regions try to 
lure away our businesses and jobs with the promise of cheap 
electricity.
  Senator Moynihan has paid particular attention to the flow of federal 
funds to the states, tracking both federal expenditures as well as 
taxes paid to Washington. In his own annual reports and those by the 
Coalition, he documented the long-standing federal disinvestment in New 
York State and throughout the Northeast and Midwest. The Northeast-
Midwest groups, for instance, found that our region's taxpayers 
received only 88 cents in federal spending for every dollar in taxes 
that they sent to the federal Treasury. In comparison, states of the 
South received a $1.17 rate of return, while western states obtained a 
$1.02 return. In fiscal 1998, the Northeast-Midwest region's subsidy to 
the rest of the nation totaled some $76 billion. Senator Moynihan has 
led the effort to reverse this trend.
  It has been a pleasure to work in a bipartisan coalition with Senator 
Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He has demonstrated that good public policy 
results from cooperation among Democrats and Republicans. His 
intellectual rigor and his demand for quality data have elevated policy 
discussions within both the Northeast-Midwest Coalition and throughout 
the entire United States Senate.
  My colleagues from northeastern and midwestern states join me in 
thanking Senator Moynihan for his consistent leadership and effective 
advocacy.

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